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Thursday, February 6, 2014

Review: New Stars for Old by Marc Read

Title: New Stars for Old
Author: Marc Read
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Candy Jar Books
Publish Date: July 9, 2013
Source: I received a copy from the author; however, this did not affect my review.

Why You're Reading This Book:

You're a historical fiction fan.

You're a science fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "New Stars for Old is a
collection of twenty short stories, each dealing with a specific
character or episode from the history of astronomy. Accompanied by
historical notes, the book covers the changing relationships between
science, astrology, religion and general intellectual culture from
Aristotle to Newton through the eyes of central and peripheral figures."

My Two Cents:

"New
Stars for Old" is a collection of vignettes about various historical
figures who contributed to the field of astronomy. Being both a
historical fiction lover and being fascinated by science, I ate up this
collection. The author introduces many different historical figures in
this book. Some of them I was familiar with and some of them were brand
new to me (I always love learning a little bit when I read). This is a
great collection of short stories!

The author brings so many
great characters to life in this book! The writing is great and the
stories are really fascinating. All of the short stories are very
different from each other. The author truly creates an individual voice
for the characters in each of the stories. I really liked all of the
stories but one of my favorites has to do with a young man studying
under the tutlege of Hypathia, the famous Greek mathematician. First
off, I think Hypathia is a pretty cool historical figure and I love
reading about her. Second off, the story is notable in that the student
is a Christian. I didn't realize that there would have been Christians
that would have studied under Hypathia. Oh how I love learning something
new.

One interesting feature of this book is that the author
included historical notes after each story in the book. He tells you
what characters are fictional and which were real. He also tells you a
little bit more about the real figures. At first these sections were a
little jarring but they really grew on me. It was nice to learn a little
bit more about the historical figures while reading this book. This
collection is a good read for history and science lovers alike!

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About Me

I have always loved to read. I decided to get into book blogging to share the books I love with other fellow readers! For any questions, comments, concerns or just to chat, shoot me an email at abookishaffair(at)gmail(dot)com ! I usually respond to emails quickly!
All opinions on this blog are my own, regardless of where I got the book!